EU probes a possible cartel of 13 CD drive makers

BRUSSELS — The EU says it has informed 13 makers of CD and DVD drives for computers of its “preliminary view” that they may have broken antitrust rules by participating in a worldwide cartel and engaging in price-fixing.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, says it is concerned that those companies may have colluded on bids organized by two major companies for supplying optical drives for both personal and desktop computers.

The Commission said in a statement Tuesday that it “takes the preliminary view that the companies concerned engaged for at least five years in bid-rigging, which is one of the most serious breaches of EU antitrust rules.”

EU officials would not name the 13 companies under investigation, or the two companies who may have been subjected to bid-rigging.